First train carrying five lakh litres of water reaches drought-hit Latur

Apr 12 2016 12:34AM

DELHI: A special train carrying around five lakh litres of water for parched Latur in Marathwada region, which is battling the worst drought ever, reached the town on Tuesday morning.

The 'water train' with 10 wagons carrying water for Latur on Monday had left from Miraj in western Maharashtra.

"The first batch of ten wagons, each with a capacity of around 50,000 litres, were filled with water at Miraj railway station (in Sangli district of Maharashtra)," chief spokesperson of Central Railway Narendra Patil said.

The administration has acquired a huge well, located about 5-7 km from Latur, to store the water. District collector Pandurang Pole is camping at Latur railway station and arranging for a pipeline from the spot where the train would halt to the well. The Latur administration has reportedly made available 70 tankers with a total capacity of 22,000 litres available for the transport of water from the well.

Patodkar said Latur city requires 20 million litres of water a day and the administration provides a supply just once in 15 days in one rotation.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said on Sunday that Maharashtra government and railway ministry were working hard to bring relief to people in the drought-affected region.

Though the railway official declined to reveal the charges that the railways would be collecting from the state government, he said that the transporter's priority is to reach out to the people.

Source:-TOI

Write Your Valuable Opinion

Your Post Will Be Reviewed By Our Quality Team And Then Will Get Published